Thursday, August 30, 2012

Gina Procaccio won't have All-Americans Sheila Reid or Bogdana Mimic this cross country season. The team also loses consistent scorer Callie Hogan off the fall unit. On the track, All-American Shericka Ward and Ali Smith are gone as well. To close the gap left by the departure of these vital contributors, Procaccio will seek to develop a top-notch incoming class. Here are the notable 2012 recruits on the women's side who have just begun their Villanova careers.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

On this day in 1983 in Cologne, Germany Sydney Maree broke Steve Ovett's world record in the 1500 meters, running 3:31.24. Although this world record was bettered within two weeks time, Maree later dipped below the elusive 3:30 barrier, running 3:29.77 in 1985, an American Record that stood for 20 years. Here's how September 5, 1983 issue of Sports Illustrated described Maree's quest for the world record:

September 05, 1983Fast Finish To A Long Summer
Sydney Maree had struggled since June, but at Cologne he finally let go—and broke the world 1,500 mark

by Kenny Moore

It seemed to Sydney Maree that he had tried so hard, and done so little. "I didn't know why I wasn't running well," he said Sunday night, his mood at once expansive and reflective, for this was important to get down. This was history now. "The whole summer was just a long struggle. I was amazed at what a month's layoff could do to me."

On June 28, reaching the tape in a 3,000-meter race in Oslo, Maree had felt a tightness in his right hamstring. By the end of his victory lap, he was limping—and knew it was a pull. He flew home to Villanova, Pa. and took nearly a month off from the circuit to heal.

Sound once more, he began intense training for the Helsinki World Championships. The effort so tired him that he failed to make the 1,500 final, but he pressed on. His history is one of blooming late in a season. In September 1981, in Rieti, Italy, he ran his best mile, 3:48.83, and beat 1,500-meter record holder Steve Ovett when most of the rest of the world's best milers had long since gone home exhausted.

"I don't race indoors," Maree said. "I do distance and strength training instead. I don't start any speed work until late April. By June, at our TAC nationals, I'm competitive, but it is still my strength that carries me. I'm not relaxed. It's usually only now, in August in Europe, that I get my real speed, that I feel comfortable, say, with running a 1:52 half and keeping going."

But the comfort, the rhythmic ease he had known in other years, refused to come. On Aug. 17, he ran a 3:50.30 mile in Berlin behind Steve Scott's 3:49.21. Six days later, he ran a 3:53.41 mile in Oslo behind Ovett's 3:50.49. No progress. In each he had run as hard as he could, and it showed. His arms thrashed; his stride was reaching and clumsy. Maree at his best is none of those things.

He began to wonder whether he shouldn't just write off the season and go home. He was highly regarded by the other runners because of his past accomplishments and his example of effort, but they began to leave him out of their calculations concerning who would be factors in the last lap. He was becoming a member of the supporting cast.

There were three major meets in Europe last week, and each featured a 1,500. Maree would run in two of them, Brussels on Friday night and Cologne on Sunday. But first, on Wednesday, there was Zurich, where any talk of records swirled around the person of Scott. Scott had lost the slow, disappointingly tactical Helsinki 1,500 to Great Britain's Steve Cram, but more by kicking too late than by inadequate swiftness. Indeed, Scott had gained on Cram all the way down the stretch. Over a full, hard-paced 1,500, it seemed, things would be different.

But Scott didn't find Cram in Zurich. The evening before, in Oslo, Cram had run the year's fastest 800, a 1:43.61. Maree had seen him do it. Cram then decided he would enter the 1,500 in Brussels. However, Scott would run the 3,000 there. "I set up my schedule months ago," said Scott. "I'm not going to be reduced to chasing him. He knows where I'm racing." Setting records, then, seemed to be Scott's only chance at proving his superiority to the tall young Briton.

Rabbit Collin McClive of the U.S. towed the Zurich field through 800 in 1:55.65, but faltered abruptly, leaving Mike Boit in front. Boit did his best, and with 400 to go the time was 2:38. That meant a 53-second closing lap by Scott would earn him Ovett's world record of 3:31.36. But Scott stayed third behind Boit and Spain's José Abascal until 250 to go, and then it was Abascal who moved into first. Scott passed him on the last turn, and edged away down the stretch. Switzerland's Pierre Deleze came on for second.

Scott's time was 3:32.71, the second-fastest of the year, and he confessed to nerves. "I was more tense for this than at Helsinki," he said. "I was tight. And conservative. There was pressure here because of the conscious record try."

John Walker of New Zealand was fourth in 3:34.29. The most experienced judge of these things, Walker said, "Cram ought to break the world record in Brussels. He can run from the front, and he's had terrific preparation. Scotty is equally capable, but he's not as positive right now. He needed to be more aggressive that last lap."

Two nights later, on Brussels' patched and worn track, Cram gave an object lesson in decisive running. He followed rabbit Sam Koskei of Kenya, instructing him at times in the pace, to a 1:53.20 for 800. Rather than fold, Koskei kept right on for another 200 meters.

"I'm not going to go for any record if someone doesn't do the third lap," Cram had said. Yet when Koskei went wide and abandoned him with 500 to run. Cram didn't hesitate. He set out for home. At the bell the time was 2:36.20. "I wanted 2:35," said Cram. "I thought I wasn't going to do it."

No doubts showed in his long, forceful stride, or on his eager face. He passed 1,200 in 2:49.64, and the crowd rose, howling in anticipation. He had left a fine field 15 yards behind, evoking the 1981 Brussels mile, in which Sebastian Coe set the still-standing world record of 3:47.33. In the last 100 of Cram's race, his teeth were clenched, and his head bobbed with the strain. As he crossed the line, the crowd erupted in a great groan, inappropriate for such a compelling run, but they had been watching the clock, and it had stopped at 3:31.66, a bare .30 from the record, the fourth-fastest ever, and the 1,500 of the year, so far.

"That's the problem with going for records," Cram said later. "If you build yourself up for one, and you miss, then you're disappointed, even if you've run great. Look, I just ran a PR by two seconds. I can't be unhappy with that. It's good simply to know I'm still running well. I don't believe you can stay in top form for more than a few weeks."

"Well, then," said Chris Brasher of the London Observer, who had paced Roger Bannister to the first sub-four-minute mile, "Why not attack something?"

Cram, a casual man, said, "I'd like to run in Cologne or Koblenz, but I'm being fair to myself. I don't seem driven to do everything at once."

And there were other things, important things. "I've promised to be home [in the North of England] in early September. My fiancé needs moral support. It will be her first day of teaching at Monkseaton Middle School." Thus it was clear that Britain has produced another miler of wondrous confidence and balance. So impressive was his long, lonely drive to the finish that it had, even in the eyes of Scott partisans, legitimized Cram's Helsinki win.

Maree, by dismal contrast, had gotten poor position at the start, spent much of the race in the second lane, and finished fourth in 3:35.39, 25 yards behind. "I felt a little better than in the earlier races." he said. "They got away early, but it seemed like I ran O.K. near the finish."

So that night he began to think about Cologne. "I need to go out hard. I'm not one who can run the last 800 in 1:48. I need a few seconds to play with at the end. I decided that in Cologne. I would go from the beginning, whatever pace the rabbit went. I said, if I die, then I die. But I had to see what I could do running my way. All I wanted was a 3:33 or maybe a 3:32."

His best was 3:32.12, set last year. "You know the mile record has always seemed a possibility to me. But I didn't think I had the speed for the 1,500 record. No, I thought of Cologne more as a tune-up race, the way it has been for me in the past."

The early rabbit at Cologne was Bernhard Knoche, and he tore through the first 200 in around 25 seconds—suicidal pace. Half-miler David Mack of the Santa Monica Track Club assumed second, and Maree was third. Maree yelled at Knoche to slow down, but still they passed 400 in a whistling 54.62. They already had a gap on the rest of the field. "We all thought he'd die." said Walker.

Mack hit the 800 in 1:52.80. It had not looked that fast. "Mack is so smooth, he made me feel easy," said Maree. Too, Maree had no clear idea of the pace. His mind was completely filled with the simple imperatives of staying with Mack and staying relaxed. He was not the same runner he had been in Berlin or Brussels. The feathery flow had returned.

Just before the 1,000, Mack had to turn Maree out on his own. It was just where all help had left Cram. Maree sped on, but the crowd of 55,000 didn't rise to him with resounding encouragement. He didn't look as if he needed it. "I never felt in any difficulty." Maree would say. "It was the most even pace I have ever run."

With a lap to go, the time was just under 2:35. This was where Cram had hoped to be two nights before. Maree looked back and saw no one. He still had no idea of the time. He ran the first curve of the last lap and passed 1,200 in 2:49.36.

Down the backstretch and into the final curve, he sustained that effortless stride. The crowd still seemed to be politely rewarding the esthetic beauty of it, unaware of the speed. But the athletes knew. Don Paige, a teammate of Maree's in their Villanova days, ran onto the track and gestured and shouted for Maree to drop his arms and pump them as he kicked.

"When he hit 200 to go, I knew he had a world record," said Paige. "His biggest asset is that he seems to love pain. But he never really tied up. Jumbo [Elliott, their revered coach at Villanova, who died 2½ years ago] was probably up there going, 'Yeah, Sydney, oh, yeah, my Sydney.' "

With about 100 meters to run, Joe Douglas, coach at the Santa Monica T.C., yelled the time at Maree: "Three-fifteen." Only then did Maree understand where this run had brought him.

"I knew I could make the last 100 in 16 seconds," Maree said. "Yet I never really opened up. I just said, 'I've got to run through the tape.' " In the last 20 meters, he began to struggle. "Only then did I push. Just to get done."

He crossed the line. The crowd looked at the clock. And gave forth an exhalation of stunned confusion. "I was the same way," said Maree. "I stared at the clock. It didn't register." Walker, finishing third in 3:34.55, came up behind him, grabbed his shoulders, and said. "Sydney, you've done it!" Maree looked again; it hit him, and he went to his knees in thanksgiving.

The time was 3:31.24, which was .12 faster than Ovett's record. "My only thought was that it had been so easy," said Maree. "It was harder to run the 3:35 the other night than this. Now I keep asking that question, why so easy?"

He jogged on the infield grass along with second-placer Deleze (3:34.22) and Walker. This was the ninth world-record race Walker has been in, counting two of his own. Walker was talking animatedly to Maree, gesturing earnestly.

Then Maree ran to a phone in the press row and called his wife, Lisa. "The record is for them," he said while waiting to be put through. "For my daughter Natalya and my wife, for Lisa....

"Hello, Lisa, how are you? Guess what? A new world record....

"In the 1,500 meters.... Me!...

"Lisa, it's afternoon there. Why are you sleeping in the afternoon? O.K., now that you're awake, I'm calling to tell you my time today—3:31.24. The record was 3:31.36....

"Lisa, are you crying? I just went with the pacemaker. Walker and a few others were in it. Hey, hey, Lisa, please don't cry, O.K.?"

It was then that Pierre Quinon of France took advantage of the no-limits atmosphere Maree had created and broke the world pole vault record by a centimeter, with 5.82 meters (19'1"). A boyish, curly-haired charmer of 21, he had the bar put at the astronomical height of six meters (19'8"). "Not to make it," Quinon said after he'd failed. "Just to show, to feel what it would be like."

Amid the cheers echoing for that, Walker revealed what he'd been telling Maree after the race. "I was advising him," he said, grinning. "I said to go home, to not stay and set himself up to be knocked off next week. I said enjoy it. These things don't last."

Which is exactly what Maree plans to do in a few days. "I can sleep now," he said. "I came here the hungry one. Now I am content."

The pre-season NCAA Division I Cross Country poll predicts a slight step-back for both the Villanova women's (#3 nationally in the final 2011 rankings) and men's (#13 in 2011) teams. The Villanova women, absent both their 2011 #1 and #2 harriers, are pre-season ranked #10 nationally, and #3 in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Villanova men, who have to replace Matt Gibney, Keith Capecci, and Ryan Sheridan, appear at #16 nationally and #2 in the region. Both squads have added new pieces to the mix and the battle for the top-7 should be interesting indeed.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Here is the start list for USA 20K championship race in New Haven, CT on Monday, September 3. In January of this year Marino competed in the US Olympic Marathon trials, where she finished 51st of 153 competitors, in 2:41:22. In June, she came 18th at the NYRR Mini 10K in New York, running 35:06. She owns a 1:13:47 PR in the half-marathon. Marino was a three-time All-American in cross country for Villanova, graduating in 2011.

The Mid-Atlantic pre-season cross country rankings for the 2012 season are out. The men's teams from the Mid-Atlantic region are ranked in exactly the order of finish of the 2011 campaign. The Villanova men come in ranked #2 in the region, behind the Georgetown Hoyas. The Villanova women, fresh off a third-place finsh at NCAA cross nationals, are pre-seanon rankled #3 in the region, behind defending NCAA champions Georgetown and Princeton. The Villanova women will have to replace their top 2 runners in two-time NCAA individual champion Sheila Reid and three-time All-American Bogdana Mimic. National rankings for both men and women will be released tomorrow, August 28th.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The good news is that Bobby Curtis ran aggressively over the final lap of the 2 mile at today's Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, getting to the second spot with less than 100 meters to go. The bad news is that Curtis, whose optimal distance is much longer than 2 miles, was unable to hold off late chargers with better finishing speed in a race of that distance. Over all, Curtis did well in this slow-paced affair (the first mile was covered in approximately 4:19-4:20) -- after sticking near the back of the pack Curtis swung wide with perhaps 200 meters to go and bolted to the top of the chase pack. He was unable to hold second, dropping to 5th in a race where the top 7 finishers all crossed within 3 seconds of the winner, Olympic double gold medal winner Mo Farah. Inasmuch as the 2 mile distance is very rarely contested, virtually every one of the competitors set a new PR.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Bobby Curtis will contest the rarely run 2 mile at the Diamond League Birminghamn meet this Sunday, August 26. The race is really below Curtis' optimal distance, but it should be interesting to see what Curtis can do over the short 2 miles. As the start list below shows, the race is chock full of stars, including Olympic 5000/10,000 double gold medalist Mo Farah.

As reported here on August 7, Marina Muncan has been named head cross country and assistant track coach at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. Here is the offical press release from Richard Stockton College, followed by a story from today's Press of Atlantic City

Richard Stockton College has named 2012 Olympian Marina Muncan its new women’s cross country head coach and assistant track & field coach. Muncan, a Villanova University graduate, competed for Serbia in the 1500-meter run at the London Olympics this summer. She brings a world-class resume of success to the Stockton programs, where she joins first-year head men’s cross country and head men’s track & field coach Jayson Resch.

In addition to competing at the 2012 Olympics, Muncan represented her native Serbia at the World Championships and European Indoor Championships in 2007 and 2009. She also won the 1500m at the 2009 World University Games. Muncan holds Serbian records in the 1500m and mile events and she competes professionally for Team New Balance.

Muncan competed in cross country and track & field for Villanova from 2002-06, earning 11 All-American honors and 11 individual Big East titles. She was the NCAA runner-up in the 1500m in 2006 after leading the Wildcats to victory in the Championship of America distance medley relay at the Penn Relays that year. Muncan also qualified for the Big East All-Academic Team three times while at Villanova.

Since 2006, Muncan has coached male and female distance runners for Dinamo Club in her hometown of Pancevo, Serbia. She currently counts the Serbian national champion in the steeplechase among her pupils, and she is a USATF Certified Level 1 coach.

Muncan adds to Stockton’s history of Olympians in the athletic department. The College’s first athletic director was Don Bragg who won gold in the pole vault at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Bragg was supplanted by Larry James who spent 36 years at Stockton after winning a gold medal in the 4x400 relay and a silver medal in the 400m at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Olympian named Stockton women's cross country coachThe Press of Atlantic City
August 22, 2012

Richard Stockton College has hired a 2012 Olympian as its new women's cross country coach.

Marina Muncan will be the Ospreys women's cross country head coach and assistant track and field coach. A Villanova University graduate, Muncan competed for Serbia in the 1,500-meter run at the London Olympics. Muncan also represented her native Serbia at the World Championships and European Indoor Championships in 2007 and 2009.

Muncan holds Serbian records in the 1,500 meter and mile events and she competes professionally for Team New Balance.

She competed in cross country and track & field for Villanova from 2002-06, earning 11 All-American honors and 11 individual Big East titles. She was the NCAA runner-up in the 1,500 meters in 2006, after leading the Wildcats to victory in the Championship of America distance medley relay at the Penn Relays that year.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

One of Villanova's best-ever high jumpers, winner of 4 Penn Relays championships, and a member of the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fall, Charles Stead, Jr. (class of 1959) has died at the age of 74. Stead won two IC4A high jump titles, and his PR of 6 feet 9.5 inches is still the 4th best high jump in Villanova athletics history. He was a member of Villanova's 1957 NCAA championship team. As this story chronicles, Stead went on to a stellar and impactful career in education.

During the 34 years he worked for the Cambridge public schools, Charles Lewis Stead Sr. went far beyond his assigned duties. He made house calls if students were performing poorly, and rewarded students who improved by taking them to amusement parks or on his boat.

“He was a mentor for the children of Cambridge,” said his son Charles Jr. of Minneapolis. He added that he couldn’t walk down the street in Cambridge without running into former students who would say of his father: “He was tough on me, but he straightened me out.”

Mr. Stead, a longtime teacher and administrator in Cambridge’s schools, died of heart failure Aug. 4 in his Cambridge home. He was 74.

After beginning his career with the Cambridge school system in the mid-1960s, Mr. Stead worked in a number of roles, including math teacher, assistant principal, and principal, his family said.

Among his proudest accomplishments was becoming principal of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, which replaced the Houghton School, the elementary school Mr. Stead had attended as a child, his family members said.

Mr. Stead also told his family he was proud of being the first black man from Cambridge hired to work in the city school district. His family said he was responsible for hiring minority personnel, who were underrepresented in the schools.

Along with his work at the King school, he served as interim principal at the former Roberts School, and was a supervisor of federal Title I grants.

“He faced a lot of racial adversity,” his son said. “And he overcame it through being positive and excelling.”

In 1968, Mr. Stead was a spokesman for the Cambridge Black Community organization, which advocated for greater minority representation in city jobs. In May 1968, the organization held a peaceful demonstration and met with the Cambridge City Council for two hours to air 32 complaints about a variety of issues.

“I think the council observed the large numbers outside City Hall and realized we are larger than a committee of 15 or 20 people,” Mr. Stead told the Globe afterward. “If nothing else, the council realized just who we are, and that the black community means the community at large.”

Mr. Stead’s family said he also helped launch the Cambridge school system’s English as a second language and bilingual programs.

Harvard University selected Mr. Stead for a James Bryant Conant Fellowship, which were awarded to teachers and administrators in the Boston and Cambridge public school systems. Mr. Stead retired in 1998.

“He conquered racial inequality with a vengeance,” said his son Michael of Cambridge. “He was very outspoken.”

Michael recalled his father as someone who was very determined, and added that Mr. Stead “commanded respect on all levels, from all walks of life.”

He said Mr. Stead always kept his children busy, and regularly took them fishing, boating, and camping. In the early 1970s, Mr. Stead led his family on a two-month, cross-country road trip during which they visited 44 states, skipping only Hawaii, Alaska, and four southern states.

“It was always adventure,” Michael said. “It was never a dull moment.”

Mr. Stead, who was born and grew up in Cambridge, was the third of five siblings and was known as Charlie. He attended the former Rindge Technical High School, graduating in 1955. While at Rindge, he was a state champion runner and high jumper on the track and field team.

Mr. Stead went to Villanova University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in education. In 1967, he received a master’s degree in education from Boston State College.

He continued his track and field success at Villanova. When Mr. Stead was inducted into the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1984, the citation called him “a talented high jumper and standout quarter-miler,” and said he “was an integral part of the legendary Penn Relays teams and won four gold watches at the annual Relay Carnival. He won two IC4A high jump titles and cleared 6-9 ½ to win in 1959, still the fourth best jump in Villanova history.”

Mr. Stead also established a number of businesses, his family said. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, he and his former wife ran a fish and chips restaurant in Cambridge, serving seafood and soul food. His marriage to the former Grayce Lynch, of Cambridge, ended in divorce.

Mr. Stead also was a commercial lobsterman, and about 10 years ago he founded a private bus company.

A skilled builder and carpenter, Mr. Stead would execute projects from design to completion. “He could do anything: plumbing, heating, electrical,” Michael said. “He was pretty much a jack of all trades.”

In his spare time, Mr. Stead coached boys’ basketball at the former Cambridge High and Latin School, and his family believes he was the first black coach for the Cambridge schools. He also worked as a college basketball referee.

A service has been held for Mr. Stead, who in addition to his sons Charles and Michael and his former wife leaves his partner, Carmen Carter of Boston; a daughter, Deborah of Cambridge; another son, Christopher Haynes of Malden; a brother, Lawrence; two sisters, Osberta Harris of Attleboro and Laraine Langston of Randolph; and a granddaughter.

Along with working for the Cambridge schools, Mr. Stead counseled youth at the Cambridge Community Center and helped found a scholarship fund, named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to help students pay for college.

“He was no-nonsense so that a person could grow and learn,” Charles said. “He was always, always teaching.”

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Bobby Curtis found a low-key meet in Finland this weekend to continue his European tour. At the Joensuu Games last night, Curtis won the 3000 meter competition, running 7:57.48. It's his third 3000 of the season: he ran 8:09.64 in Cork on July 17, and 7:54.25 in Dublin on July 25.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Dave Hartman came all the way across the country from California to attend Villanova in the fall of 1991. The 1991 California state champion over 3200 meters (and a major high school rival of another future Villanova Wildcat -- Louie Quintana), Hartman was a California state track phenom at the same time Deena Drossin (later Kastor) was making a name for herself in the state prep ranks. He finished 3rd at the Kinney (now Foot Locker) high school cross country nationals behind winner Quintana (see results HERE). Hartman spent three years on the Main Line, with his best results coming in cross country: as a sophomore Hartman finished 33rd at the 1992 NCAA cross country national meet, helping Villanova to the 4th place team finish (after a streak of 8 years not making XC nationals) and earning All-American honors. However, dissatisfied with his progress on the track (PRs at the time of 8:23, 14:21, and 30:49), Hartman left Villanova in May 1994, transferring to Texas-San Antonio, where he finished his collegiate eligibility. After coaching tenures at Texas A&M, University of Georgia, Texas-San Antonio, Texas-Pan American, and Lamar University, Hartman has now been named an assistant coach at Purdue. Here is the official press release from the Purdue Office of Sports Information:

Cross Country And Track And Field Add Hartman To Staff
Dave Hartman comes to Purdue after stints in the Southland Conference, SEC, and Big XII.

Aug. 14, 2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue track and field team hired an assistant cross country and track and field coach on Monday, head coach Lonnie Greene announced. Dave Hartman will take over the position after spending a season as an assistant track and field coach at Lamar University.

In his season at Lamar, Hartman helped develop elite middle-distance and distance runners for the track and field program. He helped bring in elite talent for the middle distance and distance groups. Hartman coached seven Southland Conference track and field individual champions in just his one season.

Prior to his time with the Cardinals, Hartman spent three years as the head track and field and cross country coach at the University of Texas Pan America. There, he worked with all areas of the track and field program, especially the distance groups and cross country. Not only did Hartman help the team improve athletically, he also led them to success in the classroom.

Hartman also has extensive coaching experience in the Southeastern Conference, Big XII, as well as the Southland Conference. From 2004-08, Hartman was the cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at the University of Georgia. He recruited elite athletes from across the country. With the Bulldogs, Hartman coached the 2006 SEC women’s indoor and outdoor track and field champions. He also coached four NCAA qualifying women’s cross country teams with Georgia as well as one men’s team qualifier. In 2006, Hartman led the Bulldog women’s cross country team to win the NCAA South Regional. While at Georgia, he coached a total of 10 SEC Conference individual champions.

From 1998-2004, Hartman was the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Texas A&M University. While coaching the Aggies, three men’s cross country teams and one women’s team qualified for the NCAA Championships. Hartman also helped lead the men’s outdoor track and field team to win the 2001 Big XII Championships. The new Boilermaker coach also guided his 2000 women’s cross country team to win the Women’s South Central Region. In all with the Aggies, Hartman coached 12 Big XII Conference champions and 85 All-Conference selections during his six year stint.

Hartman also coached at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 1996-98. There, he was the cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. Hartman coached one men’s NCAA qualifying cross country team as well as the 1997 Southland Conference women’s outdoor track and field champions. In his two years with the Roadrunners, Hartman coached eight Southland Conference champions and 30 All-Conference selections.

The list of accomplishments for Hartman also includes coaching six WICCCA Academic All-American cross country teams. He also coached 21 All-American cross country and track and field selections. Hartman was named the 2007 USTFCCCA East Region Men’s Distance Coach of the Year. He also earned the 2006 USTFCCCA East Region Women’s Assistant Distance Coach of the Year as well as the USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 2000, Hartman earned the NCAA South Central Region Women’s Cross Coach of the Year award. He also was named the 1997 Southland Conference Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Hartman was also the WICCCA South Region representative from 2004-08 and the men’s United States Cross Country Coaches Association Region representative from 2000-04.

Prior to his coaching days, Hartman was a cross country runner at Villanova University from 1991-94. He was an All-American in 1992 and was a part of the team that finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championship that year. In 1993, he helped lead the Wildcats to win the Big East Cross Country Championship. Later, Hartman would attend the University of Texas at San Antonio from 1994-96 where he would earn his degree in English. Hartman was a seven-time Southland Conference Champion in cross country and track and field.

Hartman comes to Purdue with his wife, Carla Dewey Hartman, and his two children Julien (4), and Sascha (1).

Hartman and the Boilermaker cross country team open the season on Friday, Aug. 31 at the Valparaiso Crusader Invitational. That meet will begin at 5 p.m. ET.

It was the 1983 Penn Relays and the Irishman was part of Villanova University's men's track and field team that did not earn a single gold medal at the prestigious meet in Philadelphia.

O'Sullivan took the blame for the Wildcats' shutout, which was the first time that happened to them there in 20 years, so much that the middle-distance runner was about to quit the sport.

But when he returned to his home country a few months later, O'Sullivan met with former Villanova runner and mentor Donal Walsh and received a wake-up call he would never forget.

"He looks at me and says, ‘You're an absolute disgrace,'" O'Sullivan recalled while speaking to about 50 children Friday at the 13th annual X-Treme Running Camp at Lodestar Park.

"‘You've been give a gift and you've been squandering it.' And he said, ‘You need to start training tomorrow. You've wasted so much time already and you don't have much time. The Olympic-year is next year (1984) and you need to go back to school.'"

O'Sullivan felt experiencing that talk with Walsh helped him not only lead Villanova to two golds at Penn, but also earn a trip to the '84 Summer Games in Los Angeles, the first of four Olympic appearances he made for Ireland. More importantly, it taught him to see his "journey" to the end, a lesson he emphasized to the campers.

"For the first time in my life, I realize that the worst thing in life, or what you think is sometimes the worst thing in your life, is failing and it is not," O'Sullivan said to the campers during a 20-minute speech. "The worst thing in life that can happen to you is passing through and not trying."

Before becoming a four-time Olympian, O'Sullivan was just dreaming of becoming one when he and his family would walk 12 to 13 miles every Sunday morning.

During one of those walks, O'Sullivan asked his father if he thought he could make Ireland's Olympic squad despite having no prior running experience.

"My dad said, ‘Well, '76 is coming up soon and that's going to be in Montreal and '80 is already assigned to Moscow and I think that will be too early for you," Sullivan recalled. "But '84 is a good year.'"

After talking with his father, O'Sullivan joined a local running club. On his first day with the club, O'Sullivan said he ended up getting outrun by a group of girls and decided to quit the sport.

O'Sullivan managed to get back into running a couple of years later and made his high school cross country team, but "never, ever won" while competing. After graduating high school in 1979, O'Sullivan decided to take a job making spinnakers for ships at 25 cents per hour, but still felt he could run well enough to get a scholarship to a college in America.

While working, he met Walsh, who wanted to help O'Sullivan by running with him every day.

"He took me under his wing," O'Sullivan said.

The running with Walsh paid off, as O'Sullivan earned a scholarship to Villanova, where he would become one of the best middle-distance runners for the Wildcats from 1980-84.

He then went on to run professionally for 15 years while making the Olympics in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996, winning the World Indoor Championships three times in the 1,500-meter race, earning medals at the Goodwill Games, the European Championships, the World Championships and the U.S. Championships and running the mile in under four minutes 101 times.

O'Sullivan felt his greatest moment was making the Olympics for the first time in '84 considering all that happened in 1983.

"It was special," O'Sullivan said. "I almost quit the year before. To me, the most important thing I reflect back on that year was the journey. It was intense."

O'Sullivan's story touched runners Dylan Capwell and Lindsey Green so much that they want to better themselves for their upcoming track and field and cross country seasons for Hopatcong High School and Blair Academy, respectively.

"With his story, he only had a year until the Olympics (to get better)," said Capwell, a rising senior who took sixth at the Meet of Champions in the 800 last year. "I'm just trying to get a better medal at the Meet of Champs. With that being said, it shows that I could step it up and get that No. 1 spot."

"He (O'Sullivan) felt so hard on himself, but he made it to the Olympics. " said Green, a junior at Blair. "Even me, last year wasn't so great. I felt so hard on myself all the time, but you just have to keep pushing through."

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

As the article below chronicles, Marina Muncan returns to her adoptive home in the United States generally satisfied with her Olympic experience. Even though she did not advance out of the 1500 meter heats, Muncan gained invaluable experience and many great memories from her Olympic experience. She will start her coaching career next month at Division III Stockton College in Galloway, New Jersey. Villanova fans will remember that Stockton's athletic programs were headed for many years by the great Villanova Olympic gold medalist Larry James.

LONDON - Marina Muncan, the Villanova graduate who will join the staff at New Jersey's Richard Stockton College in September, is bound to be a successful college track coach.

After all, she already has worlds of big-time experience running the international track and field circuit for her home nation of Serbia.

"Everything I've done and seen the last few years, I know that's bound to help me," Muncan said Monday morning at Olympic Stadium.

She ran her first-round race of the women's 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 11.25 seconds. That ranked 21st in the 45-runner field, but fell 3.42 seconds shy of qualifying for the Wednesday night semifinals.

"I definitely gave it my best shot," said Muncan, "but I was running against the greatest women in the world. They're all such fabulous athletes. I was hoping to place higher and make it into the semis.

"There was a lot of change of pace and surging, that really hurt me. I should have been prepared for that," said Muncan, whose best time coming in was 4:06.48.

"But at the end of the day, here I am running in the Olympics for the first time, and I'm very happy to be here."

Former Villanova teammate Sheila Reid, twice an NCAA cross-country champion as well as NCAA outdoor titlist at 1,500 and 5,000 meters, will run the 5,000 for Canada starting with the Tuesday morning qualifying rounds.

Sheila Reid this morning failed to advance to the Olympic 5000 meter final, finishing 15th in her semi-final heat, in 15:27.xx. Stating before the start of the competition that anything short of making the final would leave her "hugely disappointed," Reid is without a doubt too harsh on herself. She entered this 5000 meter heat with the 16th best PR of the 18 competitors, and the race for her went according to the form chart. In the early and middle part of the race, Reid was able to stay attached to the lead peloton, as it made its way through the laps. The race went though 1000 meter splits of 3:02, 3:03, 3:05, 3:02, and 2:48. When the serious racing started after the 3500 meter mark, however, Reid fell out the back and was unable to stay attached. As the results below indicate, Reid fell into that dreaded no-man's land, running adrift of other runners and having to make all the pace by herself. Still, when it was all said and done, Reid ran much faster than her performance (16:15.23) at the Canadian Olympic Trials, and in fact came home less than 4 seconds off her PR of 15:23.64. It now off to the professional ranks for Reid, and the dramatic improvements that full-time training bring. Despite not making the Olympic final, Reid has gained valuable international experience that will aid in her development. Onward and upward.

Monday, August 6, 2012

In a pre-Olympics Live Chat from Athletics Canada, Sheila Reid indicated that anything short of making the 5000 meter finals would be "hugely disappointing." Tomorrow morning, she'll have her shot in the second of two 5000 meter heats. The first 5 finishers from each heat, plus the 5 next fastest runners from either heat will advance to the Olympic final.

Marina Muncan ran well of her recent PR (4:06.48), finishing in 11th place (4:11.25) in the first heat of the women's 1500 meter competition in London. Muncan's heat was the fastest of the three: it went out in 2:13, and produced four of the event's six non-automatic qualifiers who got through to the semi-finals on time. Heat #2 was the slowest, going out in 2:23 and with a winning time of 4:13.32. The last qualifier from heat #3 (which went out in 2:18) ran 4:07.83.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Brad Sumner turns 42 years old today. Seventeen summers ago in 1995 Sumner ran 3:59.11 to place his name on Villanova's sub-4:00 list. While at Villanova, Sumner was a 3-time NCAA finalist at 800 meters, finishing 8th, 4th, and 4th in 1991, 1992, and 1993, respectively. He was a USATF 800 meter finalist at the national meets in 1993 (6th in 1:46.33), 1994 (4th in 1:47.79), and 1995 (5th in 1:48.90). He still holds the New York State championship meet record at 600 meters (1:19.56), set in 1989 running for McQuaid High (Rochester, NY). At that NY state meet, Brad also anchored McQuiad's come-from-behind 4 x 800 state championship relay effort. Sumner ran at Villanova from 1989-1993.